Malevolent Spirit Bites the Dust in University at Buffalo Production of Noh Drama, "Aoi no Ue"

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The University at Buffalo will present a
performance of "Aoi no Ue," a classic work by 15th-century Japanese
noh dramatist Zeami Motokiyo on Feb. 1 at 8 p.m. in the Drama
Theatre, Center for the Arts on the UB North (Amherst) Campus.

Tickets for the performance are available from the Center for
the Arts Box Office -- 645-ARTS -- at $15 (general public) and $6
(students).

The play, based on events in the 11th-century novel "The Tale of
Genji," by Murasaki Shikibu, will feature Hatta Tatsuya, Fukano
Shinjiro and Yasuda Noboru, three accomplished noh performers from
Japan's Kanze School of Acting. The actors will be joined by
students in the UB Department of Theatre and Dance who will study
with them in a master class during the week of Jan. 26-31. Hatta
and Fukano performed "Hagoromo," another noh classic by Zeami, to a
rapt audience at UB in 1999.

At 7 p.m. on Feb. 1, prior to the performance, a Japanese robing
demonstration will be narrated by Takako Michi, M.A. '73, of
Williamsville, in the Center for the Arts' Screening Room (112).
Michi is a UB alumna and member of the Buffalo-Kanazawa Sister City
Committee, with a long record of coordinating cultural and artistic
projects between the U.S. and Japan. The demonstration will be free
and open to the public.

The UB performance, master class and demonstration are three
events in a university-community noh residency sponsored by several
UB departments and programs and Western New York entities. The
other public events are:

Public performance workshop, Jan. 31, 10 a.m. to noon: An
"active learning experience" about noh theater will be offered by
the actors through a public performance workshop in the Drama
Theatre in the Center for the Arts. Those interested in attending
can pre-register through Buffalo/Niagara WorldConnect, 834-2150, or
the UB Department of Theater and Dance, 645-6898, ext. 1332 or
1333.

Second public performance of "Aoi no Ue," Feb. 2, 8 p.m.: The
Irish Classical Theater, 625 Main Street, Buffalo. Tickets for that
performance are $15. For information and reservations, call the ICT
at 853-4282.

"Aoi no Ue" is established firmly in the classic repertoire of
noh, a form of symbolic theater in which primary importance is
attached to ritual and suggestion in a rarefied aesthetic
atmosphere. The noh drama does not unfold scene by scene, but tells
its story through a blend of words, music and dance, embellished
with gorgeously colored costumes and suggestive mood masks. The
"action," for lack of a better word, is slow-moving, deliberate and
highly symbolic. Actors, props and backdrops are sparse and most
sound is produced by a chorus, flutes and drums.

In this play, Lady Aoi, represented by a folded robe, lies near
death, stricken with a mysterious illness by the malevolent spirit
of the scorned, jealous Lady Rokujo. The play's most memorable
scene involves an exorcism performed by a chanting ascetic whose
incantations stay the evil spirit of Rokujo. Rokujo repeatedly
withdraws, coils and strikes until in the end her heart softens and
she is guided to salvation and Buddhahood.

In addition to being a playwright, Zeami Motokiyo (zay-ah'-me
moh-toh-kee'-yo) was an actor and drama theorist from a theatrical
family. At age 11, he attracted the attention of the shogun
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, who became his first patron. Zeami wrote works
of astonishing poetic resonance, incorporating myth, legend and
literary allusion into densely interwoven imagery. As drama critic,
he produced practical instruction for actors and highly theoretical
work that elevated the art of noh theater to the level of court
poetry and linked verse.

The noh residency and performances are co-sponsored by the
Department of Theatre and Dance, the Asian Studies program, the
Center for the Arts, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Butler
Chair of English, the Department of Comparative Literature, the
Department of Linguistics and the Office of International
Education, all at UB; the Irish Classical Theater; Buffalo/Niagara
WorldConnect; Fujisawa Healthcare; the East Asian Studies Program
of Cornell University, and friends of the Noh Residency. For
information, call UB's Asian Studies program at 645-3474.Additional
information on the history, nature, staging, characters, masks,
costumes, instrumentalists and chorus associated with noh drama can
be found at http://www.jinjapan.org/access/noh/index.html.

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